With a scowl, Kennedy let go of him. “Is she really voting for Mrs. Nibley?”
“She has some Nibley signs at her house,” Heath said. “Grandma spotted them yesterday and said, ‘It figures.’”
Come to think of it, Kennedy had seen them, too. He’d told himself at the time that it didn’t matter to him, but it bothered him more than he cared to admit. “What do you do when you go over there?” he asked, wondering if his son would mention the reading.
“Just…work,” he replied with a shrug.
“What kind of work?”
“We cook. We count the jars in the cellar. We—”
“How do you cook if you’re staying outside?” Kennedy interrupted, arching a knowing eyebrow at him.
Teddy’s face turned red. “I wasn’t inside very long, Dad. And…and we had to cook,” he added beseechingly. “If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be ready for today.”
“Something special is happening today?”
“We’re going to open the shop.”
“What shop?”
“Evonne’s Homestyle Fixin’s.”
Kennedy blinked several times. “You’re kidding me.”
“No.” Excitement sparkled in his youngest son’s wide gray eyes. “We have twenty-two jars of peaches, eighteen jars of tomatoes—”
“Does Grace need the money?” Kennedy asked.
“She told me I could charge whatever I want. And she’s gonna split it with me.”
“So probably not.”
“I think she misses Evonne. Like me.” He assumed a more grown-up air. “She wants to take a page out of Evonne’s book.”
“Which means…”
His shoulders rounded again. “I don’t know. That’s just what she said.”
“It means—” Kennedy started.
“I remember,” Teddy interrupted. “It’s living the simple life…or something like that.”
Kennedy laughed.
“She’s probably going to take a lot of naps,” Heath piped up. “Right, Dad?”
“Living the simple life is definitely about slowing down for a bit,” he replied. “Considering what she normally does, I’m sure that’s a good idea.”
“What does she normally do?” Heath asked.
“She’s an assistant district attorney, remember?”
“No.” Teddy shoved his bowl away. “What’s that?”
“A lawyer.”
“What’s a lawyer?”
“Someone who knows the laws we live by in this country.”
Teddy licked the milk mustache from his lip. “Yeah, that’s it. She said she’s taking a vacation from the laws.”
“From practicing law,” Kennedy corrected, but Teddy took no notice.
“She’s really nice.”
Kennedy folded his arms. “I’m still waiting to hear why you disobeyed me.”
“She needed my help.”
“Having a good excuse doesn’t make it okay,” Kennedy pointed out.
Teddy’s eyebrows gathered above the bridge of his small nose. “We leave the back door open to catch the breeze,” he said as though that somehow improved the situation. “And sometimes we sit out on the porch and drink fresh-squeezed lemonade.”
“You do?” Heath said, his tone jealous. “I like lemonade. Can I come, too?”
“Maybe,” Teddy said, but it was easy to tell he’d rather have Grace all to himself.
Kennedy wondered how he should respond to his son’s disobedience. Grace’s personal life worried him. He hadn’t forgotten the ominous Bible in his sock drawer. He’d barely slept because of it. And yet he’d already seen how Grace interacted with Teddy. He felt quite certain she’d never hurt him. “You disobeyed me, so you have to be punished.”
“How?” Teddy asked.
“You’ll have to do some extra work around here this weekend.”
Teddy didn’t even bat an eye. “Okay. But I can still go over to Grace’s today, right?”
Kennedy’s jaw dropped. He didn’t care about the extra work? “I don’t know about that.”
“Please?” he begged. “She needs me.”
“If I let you go there again, you can’t stay so long. It upsets Grandma. Just visit for a couple of hours and head back.”
“But Grace and I have a lot to do!”
Kennedy assumed the role of a stern parent. “Do you want to be grounded in addition to the extra work?”
“No.” Teddy stared glumly up at him, making it difficult for Kennedy to be angry. “But it’s stupid if I have to stay at Grandma’s all day. No matter what I do, she says, ‘Stop that! You’re making me nervous.’”
“If you want to help Grace open the shop, you’re going to have to compromise.”
“But—”
“Teddy…” Kennedy warned.
Finally, his son seemed to get the point. “O-kay,” he said with a pained sigh.
“And do me one other favor.”
Teddy’s expression grew leery. “What’s that?”
Kennedy grinned. “Bring home more of those cookies.”
Teddy’s eyes lit up as though he’d just been given a gift. “I will if you’ll let her go camping with us this weekend.”
“What?” Kennedy said.
“She loves the outdoors. She told me so herself. That’s why she likes to be in the garden.”
“I don’t think so, Teddy. I’m guessing she wouldn’t want to go even if I invited her.”
“Sure she would, Dad! I bet if you let her go camping with us, she’d even vote for you. She just needs to get to know you, right?”
Feigning disinterest, Kennedy picked up the newspaper next to his empty plate. “Maybe another time, buddy.”
But Teddy wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Please, Dad? I know you’d like her if you’d give her a chance. I know she’d like you, too. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about me when I’m over there.”
Kennedy had no idea how to respond. Teddy seemed on the verge of tears.
“We’re planning to do the stand all next week,” his son added hopefully.
“I’ll think about it,” Kennedy said, putting off the inevitable disappointment his real response would engender. But he regretted softening that much when Teddy’s smile stretched wider than he’d seen in months.